Week 1: Straya, mate!

Lisa Schnitzler
Jan 13, 2019
3 min read

I arrived in Melbourne, Australia around 10am last Friday and it was a whopping 40 degrees C! I was really excited to get into the air conditioned Uber and to arrive at my homestay in Ascot Vale. In Melbourne there are a bunch of suburbs and mine is really lovely. I live right across the street from a hockey field and about 5 minutes from the tram.

When I arrived the little girl I am living with (5 years old) was saying "Lisa! Lisa!". So.. I basically knew we were going to be BFFs. In my free time we play hide and seek and she shows me all of the cool shows kids watch these days. The Mom and Dad that I live with are amazing people. They are so welcoming and kind, I am so lucky!

On my first day I went to the shops with the family and we explored Australian prices for groceries. I forced myself to stay up until 9pm and then fell into a very very deep sleep. The next day I went into town via the tram, which took about 3 tries. I went in every wrong direction before finally getting on the right one. In Australia, they drive on the left side of the road which has totally disoriented my sense of direction. After I got on the right one, I explored the Queen Victoria Market. I am an absolute sucker for markets. I don't usually buy that much, but I love the atmosphere. Melbourne is filled with street art. Literally every street has art.

After this, I explored the Victoria State Library. I can imagine my sister is reading this right now and thinking, "Of course Lisa went to the LIBRARY on her first day in the big city". And she's right. But this library is straight out of Hogwarts. I explored, read some books on Aboriginal history and made my way to some much needed food.

My sister-in-law recommended a vegan place called Lord of the Fries so I went there. It was fantastic! Later on, I met my friend Monica who is also from Victoria. It is such a small world! We met and grabbed a pint at Workshop which is a hipster-balcony bar in the city.

Later on in the week, I reunited with a friend I met in Thailand! (Again, small world). We went to trivia and absolutely lost, but we had a great time.

I started my job at RMIT on Monday and I am absolutely loving it. I work in a centre for Aboriginal students and I have been researching and report writing so far. RMIT is a really artsy school and it is so interesting to see how many similarities there are between indigenous people in Canada and Australia. It turns out they were treated in very similar ways by colonizers. I am learning every day!

I tried some new things this week as well. I had vegemite, and although it has a very peculiar taste I do enjoy it! I tried Little Fat Lamb which is all of the rage here (it is basically cheap cider). My favourite new place to shop is K-MART. If you have never been to one it is basically like cheap Ikea with a wide selection of home decor and stylish clothes. I could spend forever in there.

For my first full weekend in Melbourne, I went to a family BBQ which was awesome, had a night on the town which basically meant me drinking a couple of drinks, getting pizza, and going to bed lol, and a spent some time at St. Kilda beach.

Australia is everything I hoped for, and more. The public transportation is easy to use, and the city is filled with laneways (alleys) with quirky spray painted bars and restaurants. In terms of prices here- it really isn't that bad. Eating out can be quite pricey, but if you find the good cheap places, you'll do fine. Cocktails are basically $18 and up which I find wild, so I just find any happy hour I can. The good thing about Melbourne is that it is filled with free things to do and awesome sights to see.